Sweat and Sand
by lovelunarchron
Summary: Cress' beach volleyball experience is getting off to a rocky start, thanks to the cocky player on the other team who likes to show off just how well he can spike.


Sweat and sand glistened off of her body. The saltiness that dripped from her forehead and pooled around her eyes made it hard to see the volleyball through her sunglasses.

Not that it mattered.

All of the training in the world couldn't have prepared her for the brutal beating she'd taken in the last half hour of beach volleyball.

Yes, beach volleyball. She still couldn't even believe it herself. How had she gotten roped into this? Ah, yes, it was probably because Jacin was far too competitive and convincing to allow her to sit out. For once, she hadn't wanted to be _that girl_ who always just sat on the sidelines and watched everyone else have fun. And beach volleyball was supposed to be fun anyway, right?

She was still waiting for the fun to kick in.

Besides being rather uncoordinated, Cress's biggest problem was that she was short—barely five feet, to be exact. She couldn't reach the top of the net even if she had stilts. And, in a stroke of further unluckiness, the player who always faced opposite her in rotation was at least six feet tall, muscular, and an excellent hitter. He also had no mercy. Whenever possible, the other players would set him up for the spikes. He _was_ rather attractive, if she could think objectively, but he also had a big mouth and loved to goad her before every new serve.

His presence and teasing made her nervous. Cress was constantly afraid of being slammed in the head by one of his effortless spikes. If only they could change their rotation and substitute someone in—then maybe she'd get a chance to hit the ball. Too bad there were no other players. Still, she continued to dive for every spike he delivered. It didn't matter that she wasn't amazing at sports—she didn't want to let her team down. Or her dignity. But now that she was sweaty, full of sand, and achy all over, she was considering just standing there and letting other people dive for the ball instead.

The cocky player across the net gave her a sideways grin. "Getting tired?"

She narrowed her eyes, a renewed determination setting in. "No," she lied.

He laughed, but it didn't have a menacing ring to it. Jacin, behind her, was getting ready for a serve. She was too hot, and finally decided to undo the sundress she was wearing. She was likely already sunburned anyway. Cress quickly peeled off her dress and threw it over the line. She re-adjusted her sunglasses and ponytail, and positioned herself into the defensive crouch her teammates had shown her earlier. Not that it helped her much.

She suddenly noticed that the cocky player's eyes were frozen on her body, and she glanced down at her bikini quickly to make sure nothing inappropriate was showing. She sighed with relief even as her blush spread from his intent concentration on her, and then watched in amazement as he got hit right in the forehead with Jacin's serve.

His eyes practically rolled into his head. The shock of the hit brought him back to reality, a half-grimace, half-scowl darkening his features. He rubbed his forehead. "Ow."

"Thorne!" One of his teammates had crossed her arms. "What are you doing?"

"Getting hit by a volleyball, it seems," he muttered mutinously.

"Get your head in the game!" she said. Then added with a smile, "not literally."

"Very funny," he said. Thorne threw the volleyball back at her.

"Hey, it's still our serve!" called Jacin from behind Cress.

She smiled sweetly at her competitor before crouching down into her volleyball stance again. He quirked an eyebrow at her, but his eyes didn't linger as he waited in anticipation for Jacin to serve again. The ball went over the net, and a man even taller than Thorne bumped it to the next person, who set him up perfectly. Cress began to cringe in fear as Thorne jumped gracefully, raised his palm in the air, and slammed down on the ball.

She tried to block it, she really did. It was the sun—it was definitely the sun that messed up her vision and her footing and—whatever it was, she landed face-down in the sand, gasping for air. That, however, led to her inhaling sand, and a violent coughing fit followed. Then she was spitting out sand.

She vaguely heard someone curse, and then the guy who had just hit her smack in the stomach with the volleyball was kneeling next to her. "Spades, I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

Before she could respond or even form a sentence without gagging from the sand, more footsteps approached and she recognized Winter's voice. "Cress, are you okay? Do you need some water?"

"Hey, everyone give her some space!" said Jacin.

Cress, one hand still clutching her stomach, fumbled in the sand and tried to sit up. She found her sunglasses and slid them on, hoping to hide as much of her face as possible. "I'm—I'm fine," she said.

Several hands reached out to help her stand, but she shook her head, far too embarrassed to accept help from anyone. Practically everyone was staring at her now, the players from the other team having joined Thorne on her side of the net.

The girl who had made fun of him earlier picked up the volleyball and bounced it off Thorne's back. "Real smooth, Thorne."

"Clearly, I didn't mean to hit her that hard, Cinder," Thorne growled. He looked apologetically at Cress. "Sorry, really."

Cress ignored him. "I'm gonna sit the rest of the game out," she mumbled. She started to walk away from the group, only then realizing just how much her bathing suit was full of sand now too. She stopped only to pick up her sundress off the sand.

No, beach volleyball definitely was not the sport for her.

Someone jogged to catch up to her, but the moment she saw that it was the same guy who had been taunting her the whole game, she faced forward, chin lifted high.

"Hey," he said, almost out of breath. "Cress, was it?"

She huffed and kept walking. She was almost at their spot on the beach now, and within a few minutes she could change into a bathing suit that wasn't covered in sand and sweat. And shortly after that, she would be deliciously cool, soaking in the ocean without a care in the world. If he kept following her, it would take her a lot longer to get to that point of complete relaxation, though.

"I'm Thorne," he said. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Cress stopped at the towels her friend group had laid out on the sand and finally addressed him when she had her beach bag in hand. "As if you care."

He furrowed his brow. "I said I was sorry."

Cress put on her sundress. "You were trying to hit me the whole game."

"Aw, come on," he said. "I wasn't trying to hit you." A sly smile curved its way onto his face. "I just loved seeing you fly into the sand. It was pretty adorable."

"Adorable?" Cress let out a laugh that wasn't quite her own. _"_ You didn't think I was that _adorable_ when I took off my dress."

"You're right," he said slowly, sizing her up again. "Adorable isn't the correct adjective for that."

She glared at him, but he just smiled back as if he had just said something exceedingly charming.

"Your girlfriend's probably wondering where you are, so why don't you just run along now." Cress made a flitting wave with her hand in the direction of the game that had resumed.

Thorne glanced back at the court. "I don't have a girlfriend," he said.

"Big surprise," she muttered. Why was he still here?

"So, any chance that bikini is going to make an appearance again? 'Cause if it is, I think I'd prefer to stick around."

Oh, so _that_ was why he was still here. _As if._

"Quit leering at me."

"I'm not leering," he said. "Just appreciating your beauty."

"Why don't you try putting on a speedo and see how you feel?"

He drew back in surprise. "A speedo? Is that what gets you going?"

She crossed her arms. "It was supposed to be an example of putting yourself in a girl's shoes, something which you clearly could use some practice with. But, if you must know, I firmly believe that if you're not a professional swimmer then you shouldn't wear one."

He smirked. "Maybe instead, you should give me an example of when you're not cute, because I can't come up with anything."

"As your girlfriend said, _real smooth_."

"Still not my girlfriend."

"Whatever." Cress turned back to her bag, not even sure what she was looking for anymore.

"Come on, let's go for a swim," he said. "I promise I'm a swell guy." She gave him a look, but for some reason his grin only increased. "And I'm a _lot_ of fun. You seem like you could use some help getting your mind off of that game."

He winked at her then, and she momentarily forgot that she was still technically mad at him, and caught herself staring at him for a bit longer than she should have. Unlike her, he wasn't sweaty, save a little shine on his forehead, and his tan skin blended well with the flecks of sand that dusted parts of his torso. His attractiveness annoyed her—he was probably one of those people who looked good no matter what he did.

"What do you say?" he said, extending his arms to her.

Cress blinked and rubbed the back of her neck, too exhausted to continue the conversation. "I was going in the water anyway," she said. "I guess I can't stop you from coming in too."

Deciding not to change into the other bathing suit after all, Cress dropped her bag and ran towards the water. She didn't stop running until she threw herself into the ocean and was fully submerged in the cooling waves. She swam as far as she could and then came up for air before she dove back underwater again, combing her fingers through the tangles of her hair and then painstakingly picking at all the sand that was stuck on her body. A grinning face appeared right in front of her and she shrieked in surprised, effectively sucking in saltwater instead of air. She gasped for breath as she kicked for the surface, which only made the situation ten times worse. As Cress choked on the saltwater, she began coughing violently for the second time that day. Perhaps drowning was on the agenda for today as well.

Strong arms slid around her. Thorne pulled her closer, one arm around her back until she was pressed against him with her legs around his waist as he kicked beneath them to keep them afloat. "Stars," he said as she coughed into his chest, "you're okay, you're okay. I've got you."

As her breathing returned to normal, Cress practically collapsed against his neck, lungs burning. What was wrong with her today? It was like she was incapable of behaving like a normal human being just because some guy managed to make her nervous.

Some guy that she was now leaning against and gripping very tightly with her arms.

Cress pulled her head up instantly. He didn't loosen his grip on her back, though. He just cocked his head to the side and looked at her, slightly concerned. "Hey."

"Hi," she said.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

This close to him, she could see that his big, blue eyes mirrored her own. While she was sure she looked exhausted, his eyes held a mischievous twinkle in them that gave him a consistent air of energy. He wore a small, almost lopsided grin. She looked away, the intensity of his gaze garbling her thoughts.

They stayed silent save his movements to keep their heads above the surface. Cress stared back at the beach, not having noticed before just how far they must have floated in the past few minutes. She could still see her friends playing Thorne's friends farther up on the beach, and she was glad to be in the water instead. She sighed happily, finally feeling calm, until she realized that she had subconsciously started playing with a strand of Thorne's hair. She froze, also realizing that she was still pressed pretty intimately against a stranger in the water, almost cheek to cheek with him. Her heart began to pound.

"Sorry," she said hastily, trying to untangle herself from him.

He was startled by her sudden movement and almost swallowed water himself. "Oh—no need to apologize," he spluttered. "Glad I was here to help."

"I have to go back to shore," she said, and took off, swimming as fast as she could.

"Hey, wait up!"

Cress made it back to their spot on the beach in record speed, and when she dared looked behind her, she didn't see Thorne anymore. A part of her was relieved. She quickly dried off and finally changed into a dry, non-sandy bikini. She spread her towel out and really hoped that no more embarrassing things could happen to her while taking a nap.

She had just closed her eyes when a shadow fell over her body.

"You look like you could use some sunscreen." Thorne pointed to her shoulder. "You already have lines from your other suit."

Cress sat up and wanted to curse. He was right; she thought she was getting burned during volleyball, but he had distracted her enough after the game that she'd forgotten to reapply anything before going in the water. She surveyed him standing above her. "Let me guess, you're one of those people who doesn't even wear sunscreen because he's naturally tan?"

He extended his arm and inspected it. "Never needed it. Still looks pretty good, right?"

She scowled. "There's nothing attractive about skin cancer."

He smirked. "So you think I'm attractive?"

Cress let out a laugh. "Just…put on some sunscreen. Then help me do my back."

He raised an eyebrow. "Sure thing."

He sat down beside her as she squirted sunscreen into both of their hands. She'd never tell him, but seeing his tan skin made her jealous. She had always been pale, thanks to her heritage, and she'd never been able to go out for more than fifteen minutes without getting a wicked burn if she wasn't wearing the proper SPF number.

"Back," he said, turning away from her.

She stared at his bare back for ten seconds before deciding to just suck it up and do it. She hastily made the white lotion disappear into his skin and gave him a tap on the shoulder. "All done."

"Your turn," he said.

Cress turned around, secretly grateful that there was someone to help her. She would have felt stupid going all the way back up to the game only to ask someone put more sunscreen on her. People that weren't pale like her just didn't understand the need for it.

She felt Thorne squeeze out the lotion on different parts of her back. "Guess the shape," he said.

"Uh…what?"

"I drew a shape on your back, what is it?"

"A smiley face."

"Cheater, you looked!"

"It's on my back, Thorne, how was I supposed to look?"

"Hrmm."

His hands started to rub across her neck, smearing in the lotion, and then moved to her shoulders. Unlike Cress, Thorne took all the time in the world, musing to himself that "it wasn't rubbing in" and "oops, missed a spot." She rolled her eyes as she sat there, but she had to admit that the way he was touching her back was rather pleasant.

"May I?" he asked, two fingers encasing one of her bikini straps.

"Um, sure," she said.

As his hands slid under the straps, Cress shivered despite the blazing heat. She guessed that he must have noticed the way she had also inhaled sharply, because he inched closer and soon his hands were rubbing slower, with more intent. As if he were her own personal masseuse. Cress closed her eyes and concentrated only on his touch. "Can you move a little lower?"

"Sure," he breathed into her ear.

He moved his hands down to shoulder blades and, sunscreen forgotten, began to knead out imaginary little knots in her back.

"Thanks," she murmured. "That feels really good."

"Good," he said. "I was starting to feel bad that all I've managed to do today is make you feel bad."

"Not anymore," she said.

He paused, but then continued to massage down her spine, and then traveled back up to her shoulders again. Finally, the motion stopped, and she exhaled, partially in anticipation, partially in disappointment that her massage was over. But his legs splayed out around hers, and he let his hands rest lightly on her bare waist. She couldn't shake the way it made her feel and made the spontaneous decision to lean back into his chest—surely this couldn't be any more intimate than the way she'd been with him in the water.

He drew in a breath, his hands not leaving her waist. "Do you want to go on a walk with me?" he asked, still breathy in her ear.

"Now?" she practically whined. "I'm really tired and just want to lay here and sleep."

A finger ran lightly against her skin. "Later, then. It's just…" he paused, and she felt him straighten up a bit behind her. "I'd like to get to know you better, Cress. Maybe after you take a nap, we could take a walk on the beach and see how it goes."

"Oh." Cress craned her neck back towards him, but she couldn't see his face completely. She hadn't been expecting that, and she tried to reconcile with herself what she actually wanted. He _had_ been rather annoying at first, but he had also been considerate to her when she wasn't feeling so well, and he had saved her back there in the water, and he _was_ cute and she couldn't deny anymore that she was attracted to him. "I think that would be nice," she said.

He surprised her with a kiss on the cheek, but then he quickly spit into the sand. "Ew, Cress, your sunscreen."


End file.
